Woman swallows tapeworm to lose weight

3:18 PM,
Aug. 20, 2013

Written by

Tony Leys, The Des Moines Register

Just ask an Iowa woman, who apparently thought that ingesting a live tapeworm would be a good diet aid.

That patient told her doctor that she had purchased a tapeworm on the Internet and swallowed it. The physician called the Iowa Department of Public Health to ask what to do for her. The department's medical director, Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, advised an anti-worm medication. ...